Simeulue Island
I would like to share with you a true story that I pray you will find to be instructive and inspiring! It is the story of the island of Simeulue,
off the coast of Indonesia. Let's begin with an entry from a popular online encyclopedia, "Wikipedia"...
"Simeulue Regency is an island in the Aceh province of Indonesia. It occupies a whole island of Simeuleu, 150 km of the west coast off Sumatra. Simeulue was close to the epicenter of the 9.3 magnitude but loss of life was surprisingly low, mainly because the people are familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis in this seismically active region and so knew to leave the coast after the earthquake. Local folklore has it that a huge earthquake and tsunami hit Simeulue in 1907, killing many of its inhabitants. Many died when people rushed to the beach when they saw the water recede, exposing the coral and fish. They went to collect the fish not realizing that the water would come back with a vengeance.
"Those who survived told the story of the 1907 semong, the local word for tsunami, to their children. It is largely because of this oral history that many in Simeulue say that they instinctively knew what to do when the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami struck. In the fishing village of Kariya Vhapi on the NW shore of Simuelue, the 26 December 2004 tsunami was approximately 2 m high when it went through the village completely destroying all buildings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeulue
The story of Simuelue informed us that a similar disaster had occurred there in 1907. For the following 97 years after that, the respected teachers of Simuelue's history were careful to include a warning to every succeeding generation of their people. They taught them that if they should see the ocean tide recede farther from the shore than they had ever seen it do before, that this was a clear indication of impending disaster! The people were taught that when they saw this one certain sign, they should flee for their lives to the safety of high ground to survive a great killer wave even before they could see the actual wave itself! The people of Simeulue learned this ancient wisdom, they believed this ancient wisdom and they obeyed its warning. By doing these things, they saved their lives and the lives of their children as well!
As I read this story myself, I was struck with how similar it is to the lessons we can learn from bible prophecy! Disasters have occurred in history before - even to the people of God! The one certain sign was always there for all to see, but it was ignored! Their pride was their downfall, but their suffering brought them wisdom. That ancient wisdom has been left to us in the Bible by the respected teachers of our people's history.
They have warned us that when we see that one certain sign, we should flee for our lives to the safety of high ground to survive a great judgment of God even before we can see the actual judgment itself! Indeed, if we wait to see the judgment itself, it will be too late to escape that judgment when it comes!
But what exactly is that one certain sign which the writers of the bible point to?
That one certain sign in one single word is ... "PROPHECY" !
The prophecies of the Bible give us numerous signs by which we can know the "last days". If we, like the people of Simeulue, will learn this ancient wisdom, believe this ancient wisdom and obey its warning, we will save our lives and very possibly the lives of our children as well!
In the pages of this site, I have endeavored to present to you certain signs of bible prophecy by which you and your loved ones can be warned of God's judgment soon to come. If you will invest 1 hour of your life to learn them...if you will pray for God's help to understand and believe them... if you will seek the high ground of faith in Jesus Christ... you can save your life and the lives of your loved ones who may also believe.
May the story of Simeulue's survival serve to remind you of the importance of "ancient wisdom" as you spend the next few minutes in the quest for God's deliverance from the Tsunami of His judgment that will very soon engulf the entire world.